French Design…18th century

I recently had the opportunity to visit the St. Louis Art Museum and learn a bit more about French Design. I am drawn to this styling, as seen in previous blogs I have written. In this case, I want to focus on French design around the time of Marie Antoinette. I ran across a piece in the museum that once belonged to Marie  Antoinette herself. So exciting to see a piece of furniture that she had in her home in 1785.  The piece I am speaking of is a corner cabinet built by Jean-Henri Riesener, considered one of the best cabinet-makers of this time in France.

 This corner cabinet is one of four cabinets of identical design. These four cabinets were in one of Marie Antoinette’s private apartments in Hameau, her farm. The cabinets were never used, created solely for their presence in all four corners of the upper floor of this apartment. The piece is made of mahogany, oak, and marble with gilded brass mounts.

The French know how to do it…Chandeliers!!

There is a book that I have been a huge fan of for years now, The French Home, by Josephine Ryan. This book is a beautiful collection of pictures and information on French style and design.  The author explores the elements which make up the French home styling. These elements include furniture, color palates, accessories, lighting, and art work. (I will be writing blogs on these topics over the next few weeks)

Lighting: As the book states, the first chandeliers were made to light Medieval Churches. Innovations in the 18th century made the production of glass chandeliers more affordable by the use of lead crystal. Now, crystal chandeliers are more popular than ever and seen in many applications. As Josephine Ryan says, “Even die-hard minimalist can’t resist.”

History proved to be full of very inventive types of chandeliers as well. Everything from a birdcage, glasses, beads, kithenware, and candles were used to create unique chandeliers.

If anyone has examples of a unique application of a chandelier, please feel free to share!